Monday, January 9, 2012

We have finally gotten the hot summer weather now. According to the weather app on my phone we got to 34 degrees today which is normal for our Summer but we had a Heat Index of 37 degrees. Not sure what the Heat Index is (maybe the opposite of Wind Chill Factor) but the wind was even hot today and it certainly felt more like 37 than 34.

The kids, mum and I have now ventured out of the house and I am blogging beside the pool with a cold drink and the others are playing in the water. The breeze is lovely now too. I was going to get my camera to show you but I really don't want to get up and walk inside now.

And now for the picture content of this post....

Quilted and Bound

Lovely fabrics

So I will show you some pictures from Ivanka's quilt I finished last year. Ivanka made this beautiful quilt for her daughters wedding. Which happened to be on the same day as my anniversary, so I knew when I had to have it finished by. Time was gettting short during the making of the quilt, that at one point Ivanka didn't think it was going to be done in time. So Jenny roped some girls in and they got the hexagons basted and stitched together, I think all 70 something of them. So the quilt then got to me in time, I got it back to Ivanka and It was bound with a couple of days spare before the wedding.

The Bride was very happy with her gift from her mother. So here are the pictures. As always the colours are not accurate. Most of the fabric came from Moda Evening Mist, and the graduation in the rings is just fabulous

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Ahh the fireworks over the ocean, beautiful, much better than my photo, but you get the idea.

The last few months have been very busy for me. Lots of quilts needed to be done by Christmas. All done....

Then spend some time with the kids before xmas, decorating and cooking, wrapping presents and organising family gatherings. We all had a wonderful xmas, a bit busy, but great. Many lovely gifts given and received and small children excited and happy. The adults eating way too much food and having a merry christmas drink or two. I did not get any photos of xmas, I forgot to get my camera out the whole time.

Boxing Day arrived and I just slept most of the day and night. Isn't funny how you know the end of the year is here and you can stop and relax, but your body just shuts down completely.

So after resting, I have had a chance to get the my sewing machine and play. The following pictures are of quilts that have been finished a little while ago and also this week.

I made this small quilt to work out how it was done. I saw it here ages ago.

I have always wanted to take Binding shots of a quilt. Ta da!!!

I then started this bigger one after and finished it this week. It is big quilt, still to be quilted though. I love the effect of Clamshells without the paper piecing. I do have the papers to make a Clamshell quilt traditionally and will still do that one day. I always need a hand project for footy season each year.

Earlier this year I made a Hunter Star quilt and really enjoyed it. Another really big quilt, still to be quilted also.

And have now made a smaller version. Also needing to be quilted, and another row added ( i ran out of fabric by only 2.5 inches, bugger)

I have made the smaller quilts with the view of teaching these techniques. While working at a patchwork shop for the last 5 years I have noticed that the space available for hanging quilts is limited, you want to hang them all but the walls are not big or long enough. So the smaller quilts can be hung without taking up valuable space but still being able to see the impact of the quilts. I tend to teach quilts with one block repeated creating secondary patterns and this also gives the option for students to make the quilt to any size that suits their needs. Not everyone wants to make big quilts like I do.

I have other quilts in my head and beside the machine to work on this year and hope to show you more of those as I go along.

I was once told that whatever you are doing on New Years Day is what you will do for the year. So today I have covered the areas of Family, Friends, Quilting, Sewing, Organising and Decluttering and my Health. So I should be set for a good year ahead. Fingers crossed.

Happy New Year to you and your family, give them a hug and and kiss whenever you can...